THE DIARIES OF PAUL K LYONS - 1980
1980 was a low point in my life. I started the year in Corsica, and then returned to London to live in Leyton. Rosina, who had lived with us in Kilburn and was living in the Leyton flat (though Harold soon moved to Paris), was a good friend to me. Nevertheless, I slipped slowly towards a breakdown. While I could work and socialise in a fairly normal manner, when alone at home I would often end up in tears. My life was a mess, I had no permanent home, no permanent relationship, and no set career.
Around the middle of the year, I was able to move, back to Kilburn, into a housing association flat. More or less at the same, a friend suggested I become a journalist. It seemed like a good idea. I worked as an assistant for a few weeks with a freelance local government journalist, and then began looking for a full-time job. Also my friendship with Bel became more important.
Diary 13 covers the period in January when I was still in Corsica. On my return to London, I went back to writing in Diary 12 until April. Diary 14 runs from April to September. Coincidentally, because it was a rather dark period for me, both diaries 13 and 14 were written in exactly the same kind of book - with black covers. Diary 15 has an ornate dark green cover and, in it, the writing slowly becomes more observational and imaginative again, and less preoccupied with my emotional and psychological self.
Paul K. Lyons (September 2007)